trash breaking

[Casper]

alright I got real angry at my lab yesterday as she took off after a ground squirl(sp?) this is not the first time this has happpened and she will ignore every command given. I would assumme breaking her of this would be much like snake breaking but since I have lost my cool I want input as to how to do this exactly. if I go out with her again I am liable to just LIGHT her up till the collor shuts off.

help me regain my cool so I can go about this in a positive manner. It has been all I can do to avoid anger but when it happens I do now to end all training pick up the dogs and get in the truck drive a short distance than raise heck with myself :violent1:

its not as bad as it sounds I just want to correct this behavior in the right way with little effort on the dog or me

ie: the squirles are easy to catch in a live trap so I will be able to have a live one on hand

[llewgor]

Here's what I would try Casper.
Trap a squirrel(http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl) ( I have to use this all the time. ) and take your Lab with the check cord and put your dog in a control situation just like you would your pointing dog with a bird.
Leave the squirrel in the cage and lead the Lab up to it each time the Lab breaks for the squirrel pull the check chord and say no. If he doesn't break for the squirrel from the beginning I guess you'll have to catch and release a few squirrels to get this to work.
If you use the e-collar I would use the check collar and e-collar before I used just the e-collar so he'll know what you what.

[ezzy333]

How old is the Lab? I would think she would quit as she gets more experience and gets into more birds. Guess all I would worry about is the lack of coming when you call her. An e-collar should stop her reluctance real quick.

Ezzy

[TAK]

alright I got real angry at my lab yesterday as she took off after a ground squirl(sp?) this is not the first time this has happpened and she will ignore every command given. I would assumme breaking her of this would be much like snake breaking but since I have lost my cool I want input as to how to do this exactly. if I go out with her again I am liable to just LIGHT her up till the collor shuts off.

help me regain my cool so I can go about this in a positive manner. It has been all I can do to avoid anger but when it happens I do now to end all training pick up the dogs and get in the truck drive a short distance than raise heck with myself :violent1:

its not as bad as it sounds I just want to correct this behavior in the right way with little effort on the dog or me

ie: the squirles are easy to catch in a live trap so I will be able to have a live one on hand

Do light her up and say nothing! Keep it between the critter and her. One thing when she stops the correction stops.
Little critters are not my real problem with young dogs as I don't mind if they give a little chase and never catch it. DEER is my problem as of late. Two nights ago I had a momma and two fawns take off from a ditch and head across a cut field. The old dogs stopped and watched as Speed gave chase. Well, his world feel apart! Found a good use for the 100 setting on the collar!

[sdgord]

Casper, when one of my Gordons was just a baby about six months she had a thing about jack rabbits. The first one she chased for about a mile and a half. The next time we went out I had the e collar on her. Jumped a jack let her chase for about two hundred yards then just lit her up. The next jack I hit the collar when she had gone about fifty yards chasing. The third jack rabbit I had a perfect stop to flush. Timing is critical with the e collar and stopping unwanted behavior. SDGORD

[AHGSP]

TAK,

I just busted out in uncontrollable laughter at the visual I just had reading your statement about the 100 setting

Think.... Wiley Coyote

Bruce

[grant]

LOL Tom!!!!

[Casper]

How old is the Lab? I would think she would quit as she gets more experience and gets into more birds. Guess all I would worry about is the lack of coming when you call her. An e-collar should stop her reluctance real quick.

Ezzy

She is now 6 and is getting worse with age. She was a slow starter and a very soft dog. I had a hard time teaching her things where she needed hands on direction. It took 2 years to get her to leave my side to search out birds now I cant keep her at my side. On her 3rd yr. it clicked that all she needed was an excided voice when she done something right then she realized that is what I want and done it almost perfect from then on.

Goes back to when a trainer will say I/we adjust to each dog to get the most out of them. Thats why they can make a career out of it.

When I put the collar on her to I give her full blast or just about twice what she is used to? Remember she is a very soft dog it doesnt take much to make her pout. I have a Dogtra 1200ncp

[TAK]

Maybe cut back the power just a bit. You do want her to relize this was not the game plan. Then again maybe you will need to live with a trash chase every know and then. Everyones dogs have some cork about them that drives us nuts. I would still work on it. Heck I have a buddy that has hounds and I think they are about the softest dogs around. Not just his but the hounds in general. Cut them loose on a Bear or Lion hold on. He had some that took a liking to Elk and would chase until they feel over. His cure, Trash Breaker 3, Elk hide and a barrel, after watching it I had my doughts of Elk Hunting again!

[AHGSP]

I've seen Blueticks and Redbones broke of deer with the barrel in the tree. It's not a pretty sight

Recipe: One ounce of deer scent, one deer chasing dog, one 55 gallon barrel hung from a tree by a rope. Add all other ingredients into the 55 gallon barrel hung from the tree, mix very well until you hear the dog wretchin. Let the barrel to the ground, after dog has stopped wretchin profusely you give it a good bath, a warmed meal of soft food and lots of petting while his world stops spinning.

Final result: A dog that will go 10 miles out of his way to avoid CROSSING a fresh deer track

Bruce

[Casper]

Here is an update of how it went.

About three days after starting this thread I caught a squirrel. She already knew it was in the trap so I put the collar on her and went about some chores for about an hour. I walked to the gate and told her to heel. As expected she broke and b-lined for the trap. As soon as she was putting her head down toward the trap I let her have it. She took a step back unsure what just happened then went back to the trap. Again she got it and jumped back. Still she was not sure of the situation and went back one last time. This time I turned up the dial just a notch and gave it again and she came back running. The whole time she thought the squirrel was the one bitting her not the collar.

Since then we have caught 3 more and each time I would put the collar on her and let her run around away from the trap till she forgot about the collar then we would walk closer to the trap. As we closed the distance she would come to my side. I would ignore the trap and act like I knew nothing of the squirrel and move things around trying to get her to investigate again but she will keep a distance of about 20 ft. and just stare at the trap till I walked away then she would move out in front and begin running around.

Did it work? Heck ya!

I felt like I was standing on thin ice holding a rock I was about to drop. Guess I did it right?

Thanks for the help all :thumbup:

[markj]

try it with one not in the trap to be sure, make sure the collar is on I forget to turn the thing on sometimes

[sudiegirl]

... make sure the collar is on I forget to turn the thing on sometimes

isn't that the WORST!!? makes me feel SOOOO smart!!